By Janelle K. Eagle
Don’t tell me not to live to sit and putter…
Andrew Blau
On a set full of gay men and women, there HAD to be a Babs reference. As we huddled together to hide from the impending rain in Sylmar, CA- and I happened to express my sadness that it might rain on the Pride Parade this weekend in Los Angeles, it happened. The completely expectable but nonetheless warm sound of a man singing musical theater. Andrew Blau, A Marine Story’s Production Manager busted out with his best rendition of the Barbara Streisand classic.
While that charming moment has passed, the clouds and wind have not. It’s freezing up here! The good news is, the past two days’ shoots have been interiors, so we aren’t impeded. I am curious why, however, that the majority of our shooting schedule has been sans true sunshine. Pre-production included multiple fans, bug repellent, and tank tops for weeks! Once we turned the camera on, the sun went into hiding.
The Return of Deacon
As you may have noticed from our twittering or facebook page status updates, we are currently shooting the “meth house.” We’ve had some incredibly willing and able actors come onto set to play with us. In particular, the lesbians are excited because this means the return of DEACON.
My favorite moment from yesterday’s shoot was the make-shift explosion that our incredibly talented art department made happen. Using no pyrotechnics whatsoever, the meth house exploded. Matt Mizrahi, who has a way with props, was giddy with pride when the whole thing worked. Not only did it work, it looked GREAT.
Craft Specialist Liz Grove
We wrap for a short break after today’s shoot. The wary crowd gets a week and a half off while the production team prepares for our last week (to be shot on a ranch) towards the end of June. While I am excited for the R&R that is inevitable for all of us, I don’t know how I feel about not getting to see my little crew family for 10 days.
When you spend 15 hours a day together, there are two directions a work environment can go. Everyone either gets so sick of one another that they dread looking at one anothers’ face… or you get what’s happened on A MARINE STORY’s set. We’ve grown to love one another. We know what makes us happy.
Mike McAleer
For instance, I know that P.A. Mike McAleer will always want the last bite of my banana. If Carsen LaBella isn’t doing anything in hair and make-up that day, she’ll happily give me two french braids. JD needs a triple grande non-fat latte in the morning. Elizabeth Grove doesn’t even need us to place orders for omelettes, she remembers already. And Tracy Weatherby, my supervisor, will happily state that she is not in need of positive affirmation, but will secretly feel left out if you don’t throw her some love (i.e. me originally not giving her a shout-out in this blog entry).
Speaking of Tracy, we love each other. Our fake “bromance” on this set has been a pleasure at all times. You can see us bicker in the video at the bottom of this entry.
This crew is amazing. The actors are the opposite of divas. Coming to work every day on a project that is so important- like the soldiers whose stories we try to tell with this film, it’s an honor rather than a job.
